Waste lubricating oil from automotive and industrial sources is an environmental problem. Waste lubricating oil has substantially no economic value. It is collected by service stations as a public service and transferred by bulk carrier to reprocessers who centrifuge and filter the oil and resell it as reprocessed lubricating oil, or who centrifuge and filter the oil and spray it into burners and industrial processors.
In both cases, remaining solids and sludge are an environmental hazard.
Animal fats and vegetable oils are extensively used in the food industry, and the impact of waste fats and oils is becoming a major concern in pollution control. The major problem of oils and fats in waste management is due to their insolubility in water. This characteristic presents a problem to the water and sewage treatment plants across the country.
Presently, there are no viable, sustainable and acceptable means for the disposal of fat and oil wastes from major food processing plants, restaurant chains, large institutions with food service and several other entities. Burial in landfills is not a viable, responsible method. It is estimated that by the year 2000 there will not be enough landfill space to bury half of U.S. municipal wastes. Efforts have progressed in the area of oil/fat conversion into diesel fuels. Those ventures have been limited by conversion difficulties and high production costs. Federal and state governments are demanding that industry address pollution and other environmental concerns and take measures to insure proper waste management and avoid health risks.
A need exists for a process to convert used lubricating oil and waste animal fats and vegetable oils into more economic products. A need exists to dispose of waste oil, vegetable oil and animal fat sludge in environmentally safe processes.